Analysts of civil liberty know that reproductive freedom is much more easily curtailed in dictatorial governments like that of the Nazis than in democratic ones. Eugenics profits from authoritarianism -- indeed almost requires it ... It is far-fetched to expect a Nazi-like eugenic program to develop in countries with strong protections of civil liberties.
--Daniel Kevles, From Eugenics to Genetic Manipulation, 1997
Subtle pressures to make the "right" choice choice are what many people have in mind when they characterize genetic medicine as a form of eugenics. Of course many women welcome the opportunities to learn more about their fetus and to act on the results. But some women also feel that they have no realistic alternatives to the decision to be tested or to abort a genetically imperfect fetus ... they may ... feel pressured ... by their doctors, who fear being sued if the child is born with a genetic disorder, by anxiety over the potential loss of health or life insurance, by their inability to bear the enormous financial costs of caring for a severely disabled child.
--Diane Paul, Controlling Human Heredity, 1995
In the near future, a single "DNA chip" could allow testing of 1,000 babies for 80 different genetic traits.
|
|
Human improvement is a fact of life, not because of the state eugenics committee, but because of consumer demand. How can we expect to deal responsibly with human genetic information in such a culture?
--John Hodgson, Trends in Biotechnology, 1989
|
|
|
|
Many horrors of Nazi Germany had roots in the eugenics movement of the 1920s and 1930s. This poster stresses "The Right Choice of Mate Is the Prerequisite for a Worthy and Prosperous Society."
The American Eugenics Society toured this display at many state fairs in the 1920s. Flashing lights supposedly noted the birth of new babies with "bad heredity" or who were "high grade."
|
|
|
